New stamp will honor native Iowan

The U.S. Postal Service plans to issue a stamp this fall honoring an Iowa native. He was born in the Madison County town of Winterset in 1907 as Marion Morrison, the son of a pharmacist and a telephone operator. The world knew him as John Wayne, the actor who appeared in more than 170 films over his long career. He’ll be honored on the new 37-cent stamp, donning a cowboy hat and wearing a red kerchief. Carolyn Wilson is director of the John Wayne Birthplace Society in Winterset and she describes the stamp as a close up of Wayne with his cowboy hat on and a red kerchief. Wilson hopes the stamp will bring more visitors to the modest home where Wayne lived as a boy. The stamp will be issued September 1st. Wayne was one cowboy that rarely got licked in a gunfight. And you won’t be able to lick the stamps either. They’re self-adhesive. Wayne died in 1979 at age 72.